This episode looks at the period generally known as the Southern and Northern Dynasties on the continent, focusing mostly on the Yangzi and Yellow River regions. It is an extremely confusing period if you try to keep track of everything, particularly among the northern kingdoms of the Yellow River Basin region.

By the way, if you look elsewhere you will often see this translated as the Northern and Southern dynasties. This is usually because “North-South” is how we tend to organize in English, but in Asia it is often reversed. This goes hand in hand with the maps, which tended, before the modern period, to place South at the top—assuming there was a “top”. This, in turn, comes from the idea that the ruler sits in the north, looking south, so many maps are made with the idea of the ruler sitting in the north and looking out towards the south to read them. That tends to flip the script and put South above or before North.

Now, for a brief outline: The period starts with downfall of the Western Jin dynasty. Not to be confused with a later Jin (金) dynasty, this was really the continuation of that Cao Wei under the new Sima sovereigns, who had overthrown the descendants of Cao Cao and briefly unified the Yellow River and Yangzi River regions. They couldn't keep it together for long, however, and in 317 CE Luoyang was sacked, and the Sima court fled south to JIankang--modern Nanjing. Quick note here: Nanjing (南京) literally means “Southern Capital”, and while it would go through many different hands, Jiankang would largely remain the southern capital on the Yangzi until the late 6th century.

Meanwhile, in the north, we have the era known as the Sixteen Kingdoms—or at least that’s one name for it., and it pretty adequately captures the level of chaos from the 3rd to 6th century. Sixteen kingdoms—I hesitate to say dynasties, as many fell apart pretty much as soon s the founder died—all in the span of three centuries. Even more confusing, many of them either took the name of existing dynasties—so we get the Han, the Qin, the Zhou, the Wei, etc. all showing up again and again in the histories. Later historians have broken them out into either “Former” and “Later” or else “Northern”, “Eastern”, or “Western” depending on the site of their capital city.

In the south, we see the continued development of Han culture, in both material culture and in speech. Generally speaking, the South is going to be considered the more culturally elegant exemplar, for some time to come. That said, they were also more political and less connected to family. Also, they tended to be more patriarchal.

In the north, we see a mix of Han culture with the surrounding nomadic groups. From the Xiongnu, or Hongna—possibly Huna—people to the Xianbei tribes and others. They brought in different values, often built on the practical realities of living through times when family was often more important than the state, which could change at any moment. That didn’t mean people didn’t vie for control and didn’t dream of being the next great dynasty, but those not on the very top often remained braced for something to happen at any moment.

So let’s hit some of the basic dates, first, in the South:

• 318 - Eastern Jin retreats to Jiankang (modern Nanjing) on the Yangzi river.

• 383 - Eastern Jin successfully repels an attack by the northern state of the Former Qin.

• 402 - General Huan Xuan leads an army against Jiankang and purges the officials, but he is overthrown by a general, Liu Yu, who restores the Eastern Jin, but at the same time he takes power for himself.

• 417 - An expedition by Liu Yu of the Eastern Jin briefly retakes Chang’an and Luoyang.

• 420 - Liu Yu officially overthrows the Eastern Jin and the Liu Song dynasty takes over at Jiankang. Over the course of their history they’ll be visited by envoys from at least five different Japanese sovereigns—or at least people claiming that title.

• 479 - Southern Qi takes over at Jiangkang

• 502 - Liang dynasty comes to power in Jiankang. There are paintings of individuals said to be envoys from various countries to the Liang, but it is unclear to me if all of these were actually envoys, and how accurate their portrayal is. On top of that, it looks like the original has been lost and what we have are painted copies, which may or may not accurately reflect the original.

• 557 - Chen dynasty takes charge at Jiangkang. Meanwhile, the Liang dynasty court continues to operate, sometimes called the Western Liang, out of Jianling, in a very small, reduced area along the Yangzi between the Chen and the Northern Zhou.

• 589 - Chen dynasty—and the remnants of the Western Liang—fell to the Sui.

Up in the NORTH, however, things are more chaotic, as I said. It is even more chaotic when you realize that these dynasties often changed their names, and used classical names to try to add further legitimacy to what were basically the states of strongmen warlords:

• 317 - The Xiongnu state of “Han”, officially founded as of 304, destroys Luoyang and sends the Jin court south. They set up their capital in Chang’an.

• 319 - Around 319 the Xiongnu Hanchange their name to “Zhao”, generally known to history as the “Former Zhao”, as a bandit-turned-general named Shi Le sets up his own Zhao dynasty, known as the Late Zhao.

• 320 - Without the Jin, the western areas of Gansu come under the sway of the Liang (or Former Liang) dynasty

• 328 - Shi Le and his “Later Zhao” brutally unified much of the north, but in 333, only five years later, Shi Le dies. His son and heir are killed by a cousin, Shi Hu, who rules through violence. Shi Hu even kills his own heir, his heir’s wife, and twenty-six of his children.

• 337 - While the Later Zhao rules over the yellow River, the Murong tribe of the Xianbei set up the state of Yan—known to us as “Former Yan”—around the Liaoning area.

• 342 - Former Yan destroys the capital of Goguryeo and then, in 346, devastates Buyeo, freeing itself up to concentrate on the Yellow River Basin

• 349 - Shi Hu dies and—surprise, surprise—his state falls apart. Three of his heirs were killed and replaced within a year, and then an adopted, ethnic Han son (Shi Le and Shi Hu were still from the Xiongnu tribe), Ran Min, seized power and established the Ran Wei, using the name of the old Wei kingdom.

• 351 - In the chaos after fall of the Zhao, general Fu Jian creates his own state, naming it the Qin (aka Former Qin) and setting up the capital at Chang’an, near the original Qin capital.

• 352 - The state of the Murong tribe of the northeast defeats Ran Min and takes control of the Yellow River Floodplain. Their capital by this time is at Jicheng (or just Ji City)—modern Beijing, or Northern Capital.

• 357 - Former Yan relocated to the city of Ye, the ancient capital of Cao Cao and the Later Zhao.

• 376 - The Former Qin defeats its rivals and once again unifies the North

• 383 - The sourthern Eastern Jin repels an attack by the Former Qin, who lost. That loss led to various uprisings against the Former Qin

• 384 - The Murong Xianbei once again instituted the Yan dynasty. In fact, the found two “Yan” states, known as the Western Yan and the Later Yan. The Western Yan take Chang’an from the Former Qin in 385. At the same time, a member of the Qiang people sets himself up as emperor of the Qin—what we call the Later Qin.

• 386 - The Liang dynasty is re-established under an ethnic Di sovereign in much of the territory of the Former Liang. Meanwhile the Tuoba, or Tagbatch, tribe of the Xianbei set up their own state, taking the name “Wei”, or more commonly the “Northern Wei”.

• 387 - Another Xianbei dynasty sets itself up west of Chang’an. It had a variety of names, but mostly it is known as the Western Qin, and it was often a vassal state of more powerful dynasties. There is even an interregnum from 400-409, but then it returns.

• 394 - The Former Qin is finally defeated, as is the Western Yan

• 397 - Two states break off from the Later Liang, creating the Northern and Southern Liang. The Northern Liang had a dynasty descended from the Xiongnu while the Southern Liang had a dynasty from a Xianbei tribe.

• 403- Fall of the Later Liang

• 407 - Rise of the Xia, who ruled out of the Ordos desert, in the north, and eventually included Chang’an in its territory

• 414 - The Southern Liang falls to the Western Qin.

• 417 - The Later Qin falls, and the Eastern Jin briefly recapture Chang’an and Luoyang. The general who does this, Liu Yu, goes back south to take over and found the Liu Song dynasty a few years later.

• 431 - Western Qin falls, as does the Xia.

• 439 - The Tuoba kingdom of Northern Wei re-unifies northern China; the Northern Liang moves to Gaochang, in the west, which eventually becomes its own Gaochang kingdom.

• 493 - The kingdom of Northern Wei moves from Pingcheng to Luoyang and adopts ethnic Han dress and language for the court, distancing itself from its semi-nomadic roots and alienating many of the Tuoba tribesmen serving in border regions.

• 524 - Mutinies along the frontier of Northern Wei due to lack of provisions—especially food. The garrisons are moved further south, where food is more plentiful, but they continue to destabilize the government.

• 534 - Northern Wei disintegrates, ending by 535. From that, rises the Eastern Wei, ruling out of Luoyang and controlling the lower reaches of the Yellow River, and the Western Wei, ruling out of Chang’an and over points to the West.

• 550 - The Eastern Wei falls to the newly founded Northern Qi, ruling out of the city of Ye

• 557 - Fall of the Western Wei, who were replaced in Chang’an by the Northern Zhou.

• 577 - Northern Zhou conquers the Northern Qi.

• 581 - Sui dynasty established, overthrowing the Northern Zhou dynasty.

• 589 - Sui dynasty had conquered the Chen dynasty and reunited the Yellow and Yangzi Rivers.

References

• Lewis, Mark Edward. (2009). China Between Empires: The Northern and Southern Dynasties. ISBN 978-0-674-02605-6

• Kohn, Livia (ed.) (2004). Daoism Handbook: Volume I. ISBN 0-391-04237-8.

• Ebrey, Patricia Buckley (ed.) (1993). Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook. ISBN s0-02-908752-X.